Scoop27
08-29-2019, 03:18 PM
From The Brazosport Facts
SWEENY — It’s always a slippery slope when entering a varsity football season with a bunch of youngsters. Tonight’s season-opening game between the Sweeny Bulldogs and Grand Oaks Grizzlies will be decided by which group of youngsters gets its footing first.
Kick off will be at 7:30 p.m. at Woodforest Bank Stadium in Shenandoah.
The Bulldogs are replacing a graduating class that emerged as a force as sophomores two seasons ago. With those featured players gone, 10 sophomores will step onto the field today to fill their shoes.
It was quite a transitional training camp for Sweeny as head coach Randy Lynch and company had a lot of coaching and evaluating to do with 26 underclassmen.
“I sure hope we find some improvement from what we did in last week’s scrimmage,” Lynch said. “We held out a couple of starters last week and we have two of those three back. But hopefully we will have some improvement both offense and defense.”
Lynch has led the Bulldogs at least two rounds deep into the playoffs in each of his previous three seasons in Sweeny.
“It is the unknown playing openers, but with us having such a young squad, we wouldn’t mind an extra day to prepare,” Lynch said. “We are excited about getting started. We beat on each other for a couple of weeks and go against some competition in a controlled environment and now we are not on the field anymore. From this point on, it is on the players and how we communicate on the field and making the right calls on defense. But these kids have responded well for us these last three or four weeks.”
Key players to keep an eye on for the Bulldogs will be Justice Clemons, Trey Fields, Trayvon Brooks, Jayden Ward, Logan Page, Xavier Woods, Mason Massey and Trey Robbins. Most will play both ways.
Robbins takes over under center for the Bulldogs, with running back Fields and receiver Clemons two athletes Sweeny wants to see get the ball on offense, with woods another potential key performer.
Defensively, expect Fields and Clemons to also make some plays. Brooks, Page, Ward and several others will take care of the defensive chores.
Grand Oaks, a Conroe ISD program with no seniors on the roster, is in its second year and is playing an independent schedule this season. When realignment rolls around in 2020, the Grizzlies will be placed in a district.
Last year, playing mostly junior varsity games, Grand Oaks scored 461 points in going 10-0. Former La Marque coach Mike Jackson leads the Grizzlies.
“They have a ton of juniors and sophomores and more than likely will open up as a 6A program next year in The Woodlands district,” Lynch said. “They have a few athletes and have a few who are committed to D-I programs already. They have some kids who can play, and I am hoping that it will be a competitive game.”
Sophomore Sean Zver is expected to open up at quarterback for Grand oaks with David Bush as the lead tailback. Last year’s starting QB, James Holmon, has switched over to wide receiver.
Junior David Wilkins is one to watch in the secondary for the Grizzlies.
“Last year they ran a variety of different offenses, like underneath-under center type of stuff,” Lynch said. “The two scrimmages he’s shown nothing but shotgun stuff with a two-back offense.
“Defensively he’s been pretty consistent with a four man front whether it is a 4-2-5 or 4-3 at times. But offensively he’s shown a variety of offenses with some things that they could hurt us with if we are not careful.”
Lynch expects tonight’s opener to be just the first move toward finding the right combination of pieces for the district season.
“This is still part of the evaluation process so we will be making some moves and each week we will be doing that to see who can step in and play for us,” he said. “I am sure there will be some growing pains along the way, but that is part of football.”
SWEENY — It’s always a slippery slope when entering a varsity football season with a bunch of youngsters. Tonight’s season-opening game between the Sweeny Bulldogs and Grand Oaks Grizzlies will be decided by which group of youngsters gets its footing first.
Kick off will be at 7:30 p.m. at Woodforest Bank Stadium in Shenandoah.
The Bulldogs are replacing a graduating class that emerged as a force as sophomores two seasons ago. With those featured players gone, 10 sophomores will step onto the field today to fill their shoes.
It was quite a transitional training camp for Sweeny as head coach Randy Lynch and company had a lot of coaching and evaluating to do with 26 underclassmen.
“I sure hope we find some improvement from what we did in last week’s scrimmage,” Lynch said. “We held out a couple of starters last week and we have two of those three back. But hopefully we will have some improvement both offense and defense.”
Lynch has led the Bulldogs at least two rounds deep into the playoffs in each of his previous three seasons in Sweeny.
“It is the unknown playing openers, but with us having such a young squad, we wouldn’t mind an extra day to prepare,” Lynch said. “We are excited about getting started. We beat on each other for a couple of weeks and go against some competition in a controlled environment and now we are not on the field anymore. From this point on, it is on the players and how we communicate on the field and making the right calls on defense. But these kids have responded well for us these last three or four weeks.”
Key players to keep an eye on for the Bulldogs will be Justice Clemons, Trey Fields, Trayvon Brooks, Jayden Ward, Logan Page, Xavier Woods, Mason Massey and Trey Robbins. Most will play both ways.
Robbins takes over under center for the Bulldogs, with running back Fields and receiver Clemons two athletes Sweeny wants to see get the ball on offense, with woods another potential key performer.
Defensively, expect Fields and Clemons to also make some plays. Brooks, Page, Ward and several others will take care of the defensive chores.
Grand Oaks, a Conroe ISD program with no seniors on the roster, is in its second year and is playing an independent schedule this season. When realignment rolls around in 2020, the Grizzlies will be placed in a district.
Last year, playing mostly junior varsity games, Grand Oaks scored 461 points in going 10-0. Former La Marque coach Mike Jackson leads the Grizzlies.
“They have a ton of juniors and sophomores and more than likely will open up as a 6A program next year in The Woodlands district,” Lynch said. “They have a few athletes and have a few who are committed to D-I programs already. They have some kids who can play, and I am hoping that it will be a competitive game.”
Sophomore Sean Zver is expected to open up at quarterback for Grand oaks with David Bush as the lead tailback. Last year’s starting QB, James Holmon, has switched over to wide receiver.
Junior David Wilkins is one to watch in the secondary for the Grizzlies.
“Last year they ran a variety of different offenses, like underneath-under center type of stuff,” Lynch said. “The two scrimmages he’s shown nothing but shotgun stuff with a two-back offense.
“Defensively he’s been pretty consistent with a four man front whether it is a 4-2-5 or 4-3 at times. But offensively he’s shown a variety of offenses with some things that they could hurt us with if we are not careful.”
Lynch expects tonight’s opener to be just the first move toward finding the right combination of pieces for the district season.
“This is still part of the evaluation process so we will be making some moves and each week we will be doing that to see who can step in and play for us,” he said. “I am sure there will be some growing pains along the way, but that is part of football.”